SacramentoMonarchs.com recently chatted with forward, Yolanda Griffith who is currently over in Ekaterinburg, Russia playing for UMMC, along with fellow Monarchs teammate, guard Ticha Penicheiro. Griffith is one of eight WNBA players listed on the 13-woman UMMC roster.

This is Griffith’s second season in Russia playing for UMMC. Last year, her team won the EuroLeague Championship so this season she feels that she has to play even harder to defend their title and with the roster full of WNBA players that should not be a problem. “Our goal is one thing, and one thing only, to win,” stated Griffith. She’s enjoying her team as it gives her the opportunity to get to know the players since she doesn’t have that opportunity in the WNBA. However, playing with Ticha is an added bonus, though they don’t get the chance to play together in the games that often.

Griffith’s team has also had the opportunity to play against fellow Monarchs forward, DeMya Walker, and her club Baltiyskaia Zvezda, with UMMC winning both games. “Playing against DeMya is just like playing against her in practice. DeMya is a very aggressive player, but since we both play different positions I had to tell my teammate who was guarding her how to play her,” added Griffith.

There isn’t much difference between the game of basketball in Russia and in the WNBA according to Griffith. “The referees in Russia are a bit tougher than in the WNBA. Things that we can do in the WNBA, we might not be able to do in Russia. Other than that, there isn’t much of a difference.”

Griffith’s team practices three times a week, with each session lasting around two hours. There are usually two games scheduled during the week as well, one within the EuroLeague and one for the Russian Championship. When she’s not playing basketball Griffith is trying to get as much sleep as possible. “With all the traveling to different time zones our sleep patterns get thrown off,” said Griffith. She also goes out to dinner or bowling with teammates and watches movies.

Griffith often enjoys the nice restaurants and all the cities that she visits as they have different historical backgrounds. However, she misses the accessibility of things in the United States and most importantly she misses her family, and especially her daughter, Candace.

UMMC is presently 12-0 since Griffith joined the team this season. She currently leads her team averaging 17.3 points per game and shooting 55 percent. She’s also the leader in offensive boards averaging 4.4 per game and total rebounds averaging 10.0 per game.

If you would like to follow Griffith’s and Penicheiro’s team, UMMC, over in Russia check out the following links:

Russian Basketball Federation

FIBA EuroLeague